detain

de·tain

verb

To detain is defined as to keep someone somewhere or cause someone to be unable to proceed.

When police keep a suspect at the station for questioning, this is an example of a situation where the police detain the suspect.

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"Detain." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Detain.

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Detain. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Detain

detain

to keep in custody; confine
to keep from going on; hold back
Obs. to withhold

Origin of detain

Middle English deteinen from Old French detenir from Classical Latin detinere, to hold down or off, keep back, detain from de-, off, from + tenere, to hold: see tenant

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"Detain." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Detain.

APA Style

Detain. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Detain

detain

transitive verb

de·tained, de·tain·ing, de·tains

To keep from proceeding; delay or retard: Our friends were detained by heavy traffic.
To keep in custody or confinement: The police detained several suspects for questioning.
Archaic To retain or withhold (payment or property, for example).

Origin of detain

Middle English deteinen from Old French detenir from Vulgar Latin dētenīre from Latin dētinēre dē- de- tenēre to hold ; see ten- in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

de·tain′ment
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.